The present invention relates, in general, to electronics, and more particularly, to methods of forming semiconductor devices and structure.
In the past, the semiconductor industry utilized various structures and methods to produce circuits that were used to provide incremental propagation delays within a circuit function. These circuits were used for various applications including to de-skew signals within clock distribution networks, in phase locked loop functions, and in various other applications. FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an example of a prior amplifier circuit 100 that was used to reduce the effect of internal capacitance and reduce delays of circuit 100. Circuit 100 includes differential coupled transistors 101 and 102 that were used as a differential amplifier. Transistors 107 and 108 were coupled to the emitters of respective transistors 103 and 104 to induce a small bias current through respective transistors 103 and 104 which limited the voltage swing at the collectors of transistors 101 and 102 and reduced the delay. One problem with this prior circuit was the power dissipation of circuit 100. The extra current induced by transistors 107 and 108 increased the power dissipation of the circuit. Additionally, a large output current typically was supplied by outputs 105 and 106 in order to drive the next stage connected to outputs 105 and 106.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a delay circuit that has lower power dissipation and that utilizes less current.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements in the figures are not necessarily to scale, and the same reference numbers in different figures denote the same elements. Additionally, descriptions and details of well-known steps and elements are omitted for simplicity of the description. As used herein current carrying electrode means an element of a device that carries current through the device such as a source or a drain of an MOS transistor or an emitter or a collector of a bipolar transistor or a cathode or anode of a diode, and a control electrode means an element of the device that controls current through the device such as a gate of an MOS transistor or a base of a bipolar transistor. Although the devices are explained herein as certain NPN or PNP devices, a person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that complementary devices are also possible in accordance with the present invention.